The field of this invention relates to teaching aids and more particularly to a teaching aid to be of assistance to any student of music to facilitate the ascertaining of different musical scales.
Musical tones are sounds with a definite pitch or frequency. When these tones are tabulated systematically in ascending or descending order of pitch, a musical scale is created. There are a great many different number of scales. The integrals or leaps of pitch between successive notes vary from one scale to another.
Musical scales have a common foundation, that being an octave. The octave is the pitch span representing a doubling of frequency. It is a curiousity of the hearing of a human being that at each leap of one octave, the human being seems to hear the same note again of a higher or lower pitch, but nevertheless merging perfectly with the original note spaced an octave away.
An octave corresponds to a frequency ratio of two to one (2:1). Notes with the ratio of three to two (3:2) or four to three (4:3) also blend very pleasingly to form simple chords. The three ratios together provide a complete set of notes for the common pentatonic scale. This pentatonic scale is commonly used in the East and is also found in Western folk music.
Remembering scales, in terms of the frequency ratios, is difficult for most musicians. As a result, these pitch intervals are named in terms of their spacing on the staff. Thus, an interval of 3:2 occurs over a span of five possible note positions and is known as the perfect fifth. The integral of 4:3 covers four different positions and is a perfect fourth, while a ratio of 2:1 spans eight note positions and therefore is an eighth or an octave.
A scale which includes the note and the sharps of notes is defined as a major scale. A scale which includes the note and flats of the note is defined as a minor scale. Both the major and minor scales comprise eight different notes. Selecting different sequential notes of a major and a minor scale produces a major triad, a major third, and a minor third.
A major third, followed by a minor third, has a 4:5:6 frequency relationship and is known as the major triad (a triad is a group of three notes). A minor triad is the same as a major triad except when the middle note is moved down (flattened). Interlocking groups of such triads provide a complete framework through the two main diatonic scales. Diatonic means ranging through the eight conventional tones.
Music is defined in terms of a key. Another way of referring to the key is by way of the tonic note.
Within the major and minor diatonic scales there are smaller intervals. The larger of these intervals is called a whole tone and the smaller interval is referred to as a semitone. Semitone is approximately half the size of a whole tone.
It is not believed to be necessary to discuss in detail the main different types of scales that are in common use in music. However, the structure of this invention is not only to facilitate the determining of normal major and minor scales within an octave and the determining of a primary triads for major keys, the device of this invention can also be used to determine harmonic minor scales, melodic minor scales, pentatonic major and minor scales, dominant seventh scales, augmented scales, the Lydian augmented scale, diminished seventh scales, the three harmonic triads of a harmonic minor scale and determining of the common tetrachord between primary triads.
Previously, there have been attempts in designing teaching aids that will assist the music student in the determining of the different types of scales. However, these teaching aids generally take the form of some kind of a chart. To determine the wide variety of different types of scales, numerous charts had to be utilized therefore requiring several pages of written material. Also, these charts were known to be somewhat complicated and required in and of themselves time to educate the user on how to correctly use the chart.